Output Preview dialog box overview

The Output Preview dialog
box provides the tools and controls to help you simulate how your
PDF looks in different conditions. The top part of the dialog box
has several controls for previewing your document. The Preview menu allows
you to switch between previewing separations and previewing color warnings.
When you select Separations, the bottom half of the dialog box lists information
about the inks in the file, as well as total area coverage controls. When
you select Color Warnings, a warnings section
replaces the separations section and provides information about
ink warning controls. The preview settings you specify in the Output
Preview dialog box are reflected directly in the open
document.

Output Preview also includes access to
the complete Ink Manager for remapping spot-color
inks in both printing and previewing. Ink mapping for previewing
only applies when the Output Preview dialog
box is open.

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If you are using a color management system (CMS) with accurately
calibrated ICC profiles and have calibrated your monitor, the onscreen
separation preview colors more closely match the final color separation
output.

Open the Output Preview dialog
box

Choose simulation profile and preview
options

Select an existing profile for simulating
how your document looks when printed.

In the Output Preview dialog
box, select an option from the Simulation Profile.

Select any of the following options:

Simulate Overprinting

simulates the blending and overprinting of colors in the
color-separated output.

Simulate Black Ink

Simulates black and dark colors according to the black specified
in the simulation profile. Otherwise, blacks are mapped to the darkest color
that the monitor can draw.

Simulate Paper Color

simulates how colors may look when they are printed on the
paper color. If you deselect this option, then the paper color is
monitor white.

Set Page Background Color

Displays the page color. Click the colorswatch to select
the color.

View colors by source space or
preview specific elements

You
can limit which colors are displayed in the preview. You can also
view specific element types, such as solid color objects, images,
smooth shades, text, and line art. When you select a source color
space, you see only the objects in that color space. Limiting colors
is useful, for example, for seeing whether a page contains any RGB
color or where a spot color is used.

In the Output Preview dialog
box, select one of the available options from the Show menu.

Preview color separations

You can preview
separation plates and ink coverage to ensure that the printed piece
meets your requirements. Although previewing separations on your monitor
can help you detect problems without the expense of printing separations,
it does not let you preview trapping, emulsion options, printer
marks, and halftone screens and resolution. Those settings are best
verified with your print service provider using integral or overlay
proofs.

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Objects on hidden layers are not included in an
onscreen preview.

In the Output Preview dialog box, choose Separations from the Preview menu.

Do any of the following:

To view one or more separations, select the empty box to the left of each separation name. Each separation appears in its assigned color.

To hide one or more separations, deselect the box to the left of each separation name.

To view all process or spot plates at once, select the box for Process Plates or Spot Plates.

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A single process or spot plate appears as a black plate. This makes objects on a light-colored plate, such as yellow, appear more visible.

Check ink coverage

Too
much ink can saturate paper and cause drying problems or change
the expected color characteristics of the document. Total Area
Coverage specifies the total percentage of all inks
used. For example, 280 means 280% ink coverage, which could be accomplished
with 60C, 60M, 60Y, and 100K. Ask your print service provider for
the maximum ink coverage of the press you use for printing. You
can then preview the document to identify areas where total ink
coverage exceeds the press limit. If you find any problems, you
can Shift-click the area to insert a comment. The comment is prepopulated
with the ink coverage details.

In the Output Preview dialog box, choose Separations from the Preview menu.

Do one of the following:

To set a sample size, choose an option
from the Sample Size list. Point Sample specifies
the value of the pixel you click. 3 By 3 Average and 5 By 5 Average specify
the average value of the specified number of pixels within the area
you click. Sample size does not have an impact on the Total Area
Coverage warnings. It only has an impact on the percentages
next to each of the individual plates.

To check for total document coverage, select TotalArea
Coverage, and choose a number from the pop-up menu or
type a percentage in the box. Highlights identify areas where the
ink coverage exceeds that percentage. To change the highlight color,
click the colorswatch and select a new color.

To check for specific area coverage, use the pointer
to hover over that area in the document window. Ink coverage percentages
appear in the ink list next to each ink name.

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You can adjust ink coverage by converting
some spot colors to process colors using the Ink Manager.

To record problems, shift-click the area. Acrobat inserts a comment that contains the ink coverage percentages.

Set the background color

You can simulate what your document would
look like if printed on color paper.

In the Output Preview dialog box, choose Separations from the Preview menu.

Select the Set Page Background Color option at the top of the dialog box, and then select a color.

View color warnings

Output problems can occur when the colors
in a document are not reproducible on a particular press, or when
rich black is used unintentionally on type. To diagnose such color
problems before handing off a PDF for high-end output, you can use
the various color warnings in the Output Preview dialog
box. Pixels in areas that trigger the warning are displayed in the
warning color, which is identified by the swatch color next to the
warning type.

In the Output Preview dialog box, choose Color Warnings from the Preview menu.

Select either or both of the following options:

Show Overprinting

Indicates where on the page overprinting appears in color-separated
output. If you select Simulate Overprinting in
the Output panel of the Advanced Print Setup
dialog box, you can also see overprinting effects when you output
to a composite printing device. This option is useful for proofing
color separations.

By default, when you print opaque, overlapping
colors, the top color knocks out the area underneath. You can use
overprinting to prevent knockout and make the topmost overlapping
printing ink appear transparent in relation to the underlying ink.
The degree of transparency in printing depends on the ink, paper, and
printing method used.

Rich Black

Indicates areas that print as rich black—process black
(K) ink mixed with color inks for increased opacity and richer color.
Rich black is used for large areas since you need the extra darkness
to make the text look black rather than gray.

Type the Start
Cutoff percentage to define the minimum percentage of black to diagnose
the content as rich black. Rich black for this warning is a percentage
of black (based on the cutoff value) and any nonzero C, M, or Y.

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To change the warning color used
in the preview, select a color from the swatches color picker.

View information about the content
of a PDF document

Use the Object Inspector dialog
box to view image resolution, color mode, transparency, and other
information about the content of a document. If you find any problems
or issues with an object, you can Shift-click the object to insert
a comment. The comment is prepopulated with all the details found
by the Object Inspector.

In the Preview section of the Output Preview dialog box, choose Object Inspector.

Click in the document window to view information about the objects that are under the pointer in the Output Preview dialog box.

To note problem areas, shift-click the object. Acrobat inserts a comment that contains the information found by the Object Inspector.